Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

194 Trading forest products in South-Eastern Zimbabwe

Generally, expulsion of an individual depends on who they are and their position

at the market. Important carvers and people such as the headmen are not

easily fired. Relaxed entry requirements have meant that an expelled member

from one market can still join or form another market.

Seasonality of rule enforcement is evident. During the peak tourist period

(December to January) people tend to abide by the rules. However, in February

and March there are many fewer buyers and traders and the traders flout the

rules in order to make a sale. It is, for instance, not acceptable to disrupt

another person’s transaction by moving in with your own piece at a reduced

price. This rule is often flouted when few buyers are visiting the market.

Leaders at smaller markets have the capacity to deal with matters of

discipline and can easily influence other participants to follow the rules, but

it is much more difficult to reach a consensus at the bigger markets. At Sese

Craft Center, the 750 members (not all are always present at the market)

could not agree on whether to build shelters. On the other hand, the 10-

member group at Ngundu Craft Center managed to source funds and built

concrete shelters in less than 10 years of its existence.

Legislation and rules governing the resources

The NRB, the FC and the RDCs have conducted campaigns to enforce the legal

regulations governing the utilisation of wood. This endeavor created mistrust

between market participants and the authorities. There are four main legal

instruments that relate to the wood resources in Zimbabwe. These are the

Natural Resource Act of 1941, revised in 1975 and 1981, which created the

NRB that controls the use of all natural resources; the Forestry Act of 1949,

which created the FC and charged it with control of deforestation, amongst

other functions; the Communal Lands Acts of 1982, which gives RDCs the rights

to control the harvest of resources in their areas of jurisdiction; and the

Communal Lands Forest Produce Act of 1987, which controls the harvesting of

listed plant species from communal areas and regulates selling of tree species

in communal areas. The latter act legislates that residents of communal areas

may use tree resources for their own use but may not sell them, unless a

permit is acquired. Most species used in the woodcraft sector are listed species

and may not be cut, for example, P. angolensis, C. imberbe, A. quanzensis and

Spirostachys africana (African sandalwood). The Communal Lands Acts of 1982

gives RDCs the rights to control the harvest of resources in their areas of

jurisdiction. Although NRB and FC assist the RDCs in the enforcement of rules,

the past has seen some haphazard raids on some of the markets, mainly by

the FC, and subsequent confiscation of the products. But such enforcement is

rare and, in general, the markets continue to operate with minimal to no

interference from the state.

At the village level, the traditional leadership is the most important overseer

of resource use. As there is no clear linkage between village authorities and

RDCs, the council has little impact and local rules may differ significantly

among villages. A number of village leaders have become involved in the

woodcraft sector; they thus have difficulty justifying and enforcing traditional

rules that limit the cutting of trees.

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